Afghan people smuggler jailed in WA

An Afghan man faces deportation to the country he fled after completing a nine-year prison term for acting as a "go-between" for people smugglers and passengers who took harrowing boat journeys from Indonesia to Australia.

Ahmad Zia Alizadah, 36, was found guilty after a lengthy District Court of WA trial of facilitating 11 people to illegally arrive in Australia on three separate boats between October 2009 and March 2010.

Alizadah fled Afghanistan after his father was killed following a longstanding war with an influential family, the court heard on Thursday.

He wound up in Indonesia and a week after his arrival in March 2009, he registered with the UNHCR as an asylum seeker.

The father-of-two then paid a people smuggler about $US7000 to get to Australia, joining more than 100 people on a journey that failed because the boat was ultimately abandoned.

He and 70 others were detained by Indonesian authorities for about five months but he escaped, helped by another man, who he loaned money to.

Alizadah then worked for people smugglers, including liaising with prospective passengers, collecting their money, and arranging their transfers and accommodation.